IKEA encourages pregnant women to wee on advert to reveal discount

IKEA has released a new advert which encourages pregnant women to urinate on it.

The ad, which is running in Amelia - one of Sweden's most widely-read women's magazines - states: "Peeing on this ad may change your life."

It adds: "Pee on the marked area and wait a moment. If you are expecting, you will get a surprise right here."

If a pregnant woman's urine is detected on the patch of the page where women are encouraged to wee, a discount appears beneath the price of a Sundvik cot, taking it down from 995 Swedish Krona (£90) to 495 Swedish Krona (£45).

Patrik Nygren-Bonnier, IKEA marketing manager, explained that the idea behind the ad was "to show life as it is for as many of us as we can".

"IKEA's products are inspired by life itself, and are all a big part of the everyday life at home," he said.

"Of course everyday life can be dull at times, but it also contains those magical, life-changing moments.

"We want to be right there when they happen, and through the 'where life happens' campaign we take that idea all the way.

"What could be more true to this than the moment of creating life?"

Pregnancy tests such as the one in the advertisement detect if urine contains a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG).

Women produce hCG after a fertilised egg attaches itself to the wall of the uterus. It is produced by the placenta.

More hCG is produced if a woman is carrying twins, although urine tests do not measure the amount of hCG - only whether it is present in urine.

An IKEA spokesperson said there were no plans to bring the advert to the UK.